Meet the Parents
by BananaLollypop
Summary: In which Éponine is faced with a potentially daunting task... meeting Enjolras' parents! Part 13 in my 'What if.. Enjolnine' series. R&R appreciated as much as Aaron Tveit's face. Yeah. That much.


**AN: **I KNOW I KNOW! This should have been up a week ago, and for that I apologise profusely. But I was really ill on Thursday, only marginally better on Friday, and then I went to London on Sunday, and then on Monday I was doing homework and then I went back to school... This chapter has been half finished for about three days and I've only just got the chance to finish it.

BUT HERE IT IS! It didn't got how I first wanted it to, and I didn't really like where it went at first, but I think I can work with it! :D Anyway, the prompt was: What if Éponine met Enjolras' parents? Enjoy!

* * *

"Nervous?" Enjolras asked his beloved before he knocked on the door of his parents' frankly overbearing three-storey house. Even the front doors were a bit frightening: two of them, meeting at the middle with two gold knocking-handles the size of your hand at waist height, nearly ten feet high and painted a rather garish red.

Éponine shook her head, smiling; on the contrary, she really was quite excited. "Should I be?" she asked, smirking slightly.

"I'm starting to think _they_ should be," he chuckled, "You've got that look on your face."

"What look?!" Éponine demanded, feigning offense.

"The look that always appears when you're not planning on letting anyone but _you_ win at something." Enjolras told her, and knocked on the door loudly before she could say any more. Éponine glared at him playfully for a moment, before the door swung open and they were met by a maid.

"Monsieur Enjolras!" she smiled happily, "I haven't seen you in so many years! And this must be your beautiful beloved? Please, please, come in, your parents are expecting you." Glancing at each other for one last moment, the couple walked inside, their hands immediately slipping into one another as a sign of unity or of defiance (depending on how well Enjolras' parents took the news that the two of them were not only together, but were also expecting a baby).

Enjolras led Éponine down a few corridors, before they entered into a huge reception room, where Enjolras' parents were sitting on elaborate flower-patterned sofas. They looked up as the two of them entered and Enjolras' mother smiled in a way that patronised Éponine greatly. However, she smiled back, not wanting to make a bad first impression; she gathered the rest of the meeting would good downhill, so they may as well have a good start to make up for the rest of it.

"Enjolras! Darling! It's been far too long!" Enjolras' mother stood up and did a kind of skippy-run over to the two of them. She wrapped her arms around her son, who grimaced as she kissed his cheek.

"Leave the boy alone, Jaqueline, he doesn't need to be mollycoddled by his mother anymore," Enjolras' father seemed like the person Éponine could get along with; he also stood up, but only shook Enjolras' hand as a welcome, before holding his hand out to Éponine as well, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, mademoiselle," he smiled.

"Oh, just call me Éponine, monsieur," Éponine smiled, "Everyone else does." He smiled, nodding in acknowledgment.

"Then you must call me Phillip," he told her, "And this is my wife, Jaqueline." Éponine smiled warmly at 'Phillip', and also extended the smile to Jaqueline, who's responsive expression looked a lot like a forced smile.

_Charming_... Éponine thought to herself, but hid her disgust behind her smile.

"Shall we sit?" Phillip suggested as the four drifted into a rather awkward silence.

"Please," Enjolras murmured almost desperately. Éponine grinned internally at the way he seemed to squirm when in his parents' presence.

"So, Enjolras, how have you been?" his father asked him.

"Busy," Enjolras said, "Éponine and I and a few friends are still working on my projects-"

"Really, Enjolras have you not given up on this ridiculous revolution yet?!" his mother exclaimed, "After that silly rebellion last June, I hoped you'd at last come to your senses..."

"The poor are still suffering, Maman," he said stiffly, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "And for your information, the June rebellion was a huge success. We've since been in contact with the government and we're planning on going to the government buildings in central Paris soon to discuss our ideas with them thoroughly."

"A huge success, you say?" she scoffed, "If it was such a huge success, then why are 'the poor' still suffering? That sounds like a failure to me."

"I came out alive, didn't I?" Enjolras muttered bitterly. He then cleared his throat, "Anyway, we didn't come here to talk about the rebellion or the revolution. We came here to talk about Éponine and I." His parents glanced at each other like they were very much trying to avoid the subject.

"Well, your mother and I have gathered that you two are an... item," Phillip said carefully, "But you understand that we do not yet completely approve."

Enjolras started to interrupt, "But-"

"As we do not yet know anything of Éponine." His father finished. Enjolras stopped short, looking between his parents, and then to Éponine who was smiling.

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to fix that," she said happily, "What do you want to know?"

Now, in theory, Éponine should have been worried; she had a somewhat shady past regarding her parents and their oh-so-lovely gang, and if Enjolras' parents asked about her family so would have no choice but to tell them the truth. She would much rather have a bad relationship with Enjolras' parents than have a false one.

And it was this fact that made her want to answer any and all questions that they asked her. Because she truly did love Enjolras with all her heart, and she knew that his parents had to like her. But they were going to love her as _her_, not as someone who lied.

"Where are you from?" Phillip asked after a moment's consideration; Éponine supposed that he wanted to start with something that wasn't too invasive.

"As a child I lived in a village called Montfermeil. I then moved into a small apartment with my family in Saint Michel, and now I live with Enjolras." She squeezed her beloved's hand, which was still interlinked with her own. He smiled at her lovingly; he hoped that she knew that he would always love her, no matter how much his parents did or didn't approve. He hadn't had a chance to tell her properly.

"Are you still in contact with your family?" Phillip asked. Éponine frowned slightly.

"My younger brother, Gavroche, yes," she told him, "And my younger sister until recently. I'm afraid my family are not people that I wish to be associated with, for the sake of my own safety, and that of my friends." At this, Enjolras' mother rolled her eyes incredulously.

"Enjolras, darling, with all due respect... do you really expect your father and I to approve of you being with a girl who has parents that she fears?!"

"I don't know whether you've noticed, madam, but I did mention that I'm not associating with my family any longer," Éponine said defensively, "My parents made some incredibly bad choices in their lifetimes, and I would very much appreciate it if you didn't judge me by their mistakes."

"And had you talked among the children living on the streets of Paris, Maman, you'd know that many of their parents are in fact mindless abusers with sadistic minds who beat their children senseless for no reason." Enjolras added.

"You know that we don't like to associate ourselves with those... people, Enjolras." His mother said, saying 'people' as if the beggars weren't worthy of such a title.

"Oh, so you understand where I'm coming from," Éponine said, smiling once again, "Next question?" slightly amused by the shocked look on Enjolras' mother's face, Éponine felt the need to move the conversation away.

"Do you plan on marrying our son?" Enjolras' mother asked after a few seconds of silence. Éponine and Enjolras both groaned, slightly bored of the question.

"We don't know yet," Éponine told her.

"It's not a topic we've discussed. Perhaps, in the future, we'll consider it. For now, we're happy with how things are." Enjolras said. Phillip nodded approvingly.

"I think you're going about this in the right way," he told the two of them, "And I look forward to getting to know you more, Éponine. But I believe Jaqueline may be on the verge of having a heart attack after all of these questions, so perhaps it's about time the two of you went home."

"I have one last question." Jaqueline said, holding up her hand to stop everyone from moving.

"I don't think you do," Phillip protested.

"Be quiet, Phillip," she snapped, before turning to Éponine, "You've lived on the streets?"

"Yes." Éponine said simply.

"You are part of Enjolras'... revolution?"

"Quite a vital part, I've been told."

"You understand that I do not approve of you or where you've come from?" Enjolras' mother's eyes were hard and they were bearing into Éponine like shards of ice, but the fiery brunette stared her down confidently.

"If that if your opinion, madam, then there is little I can do besides be myself to change it." She replied, feeling Enjolras squeeze her hand again (though whether it was a sign of encouragement or of warning she wasn't sure).

Enjolras' mother nodded, "I will see you again, Éponine," she said, and Enjolras stood up, knowing that his mother was dismissing them, "But some things may have to change."

"I look forward to hearing your suggestions." Éponine told her, also standing, "it's been a pleasure to meet you both," she said, nodding her goodbye to Phillip.

"We'll write to you soon," Phillip told his son, shaking his hand again, "Try not to cause too much trouble in the country before then."

"The revolution calls when the people rise, Father," Enjolras shrugged, "I shall cause trouble when the people call." His father smiled slightly, "Goodbye, Maman," Enjolras said to his mother, who nodded in acknowledgment of his farewell but said nothing.

The two left the room, when a thought struck Éponine. Releasing Enjolras' hand for the first time since they'd arrive, she dashed quickly back to the reception room, poking her head round the doorframe.

"Oh, and by the way," she smiled a dazzling smile that shone with happiness, "I'm pregnant with Enjolras' baby and we still haven't spoken about a wedding. Pleasure to meet you!" And with that she ran from the room, grabbing Enjolras' hand on the way, and they sprinted away from the house (and Enjolras' parents' shocked faces) without looking back, laughing hysterically.

* * *

The Amis could hardly believe their ears when Éponine and Enjolras told them the story later that evening of their visit to Enjolras' parents' house.

"You... you compared Enjolras' mother to yourself?" Courfeyrac gasped between laughing, "When she completely disapproved of you?!"

"She disapproved of my fearing my parents, I disapproved of her disliking the people on the streets," Éponine smiled, "It was a comparison that needed to be made!"

"And you... you just said that you were pregnant and walked out?!" Combeferre laughed, "Oh, dearest 'Ponine... how did you get out alive?!"

"Forget 'alive'," Enjolras grinned, "They haven't even banished her! They said they'll see her again!"

"To be fair, that was before I dropped the whole 'I'm having your son's baby' thing on them," Éponine laughed. She was rather enjoying the carefree evening with her friends.

"Well, 'Ponine, that's it," Courfeyrac grinned, "You're a part of Enjolras' family now. How does it feel?"

"Like I'm four months pregnant," Éponine laughed, "But it's a good feeling. Apollo overestimated his family's ability to scare me. The parents from hell, you said! They were far from _that_!"

"Actually, it was Courf who said that," Enjolras corrected her, "And you were lucky. Perhaps it's because you're a woman so they didn't actually believe that you were part of the revolution. That's what seemed to annoy them about everyone else."

"Except Grantaire," Marius put in (he had made a rather stutter-y and red-faced apology to both Éponine and Enjolras at the start of the evening, and their disastrous meeting the week before had been forgotten), "They didn't like Grantaire because he drunk three of their most expensive bottles of wine and then passed out on their best rug."

"What can I say, you've got to make an impression!" said drunk laughed, taking another swig from a bottle of wine as if to prove his point.

"Yes well, I think 'Ponine managed that just fine," Enjolras smiled, wrapping an arm around Éponine's waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling slightly.

"I sincerely hope so."

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**So that was it! I hoped you liked it.. tell me if you did/didn't! And don't forget to throw me a prompt if you have one! I'm getting really excited about the extended edition (I have so many great ideas for the little parts that I've missed out) so get reviewing/prompting people! Thanks for reading :)**

**P.S. Enjolras' parents' names just kind of popped up to me... they're not canon names, I made them up, I have no rights to them or anything XD**


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